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My daily crawl through YouTube recently brought me to an absolute gem. The Lead Programmer of Republic Commando has a four part oral history of the game, including interviews with developers, on his YouTube channel. This has triggered another nostalgia play of LucasArts’ amazing squad based shooter.
The last time I did a nostalgia play it led to an article with Super Battle Droid statistics. I thought it would only be right to channel the nostalgia again. Love ’em, or love to hate ’em, Trandoshan slavers become a big part of the rogue’s gallery for Republic Commando. From the constant ambushes on the early RAS Prosecutor levels to turning the tables on Kashyyyk by attacking slaver bases, the following foes were a major part of the game. I hope they are as enjoyable for your PCs to face on the tabletop as it was for me to gun them down along with the rest of Delta Squad on PC.
Trandoshan Heavy [Nemesis]
These elite Trandoshan warriors were infamous as some of the most dangerous heavy assault mercenaries in the galaxy. Protected by thick plates of durasteel armor and armed with the devastating LS-150 heavy repeater, Trandoshan Heavies were found in mercenary companies and slaving parties throughout the Outer Rim. In battle, these mercenaries throw caution to the wind by wading into the heaviest enemy positions, heavy repeaters constantly shooting an unrelenting torrent of charged particles. Most boast hearty kill counts, commanding the respect of their fellow Trandoshans. This respect feeds both the Trandoshan Heavy’s stereotypical arrogance, as well as healthy credit accounts from the high pay and share of loot they demand.
Br 4, Ag 2, Int 2, Cun 2, WP 2, Pres 2
Soak 7, W. Threshold 30, S. Threshold 14
Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Coercion 1, Melee 2, Gunnery 2, Perception 1, Ranged (Heavy) 2, Resilience 3.
Talents: Adversary 1 (upgrade difficulty of all combat checks against this target once), Durable 3 (may reduce a Critical Injury result suffered by 10 per rank of Durable, to a minimum of 1), Rain of Death (perform the Rain of Death maneuver to ignore the increased difficulty due to the Auto-fire quality of attacks made this turn)
Abilities: Unflinching Barrage (when attempting at attack using a weapon with the auto-fire quality, may forego the benefit of the Adversary talent until the start of his next turn to automatically activate auto-fire once)
Equipment: LS-150 heavy ACP repeater (Gunnery; Damage 13; Critical 3; Range [Long]; Autofire, Cumbersome 4, Pierce 2), LS-150 bayonet (Melee; Damage 8; Critical 2; Range [Engaged]; Inaccurate 2, Pierce 2, Vicious 2), heavily plated armor (soak +3)
Trandoshan Slaver [Minion]
Trandoshans are infamous throughout the galaxy for their brutal slavers. While some slavers use deception or guile in capturing their slaves, Trandoshans prefer to use shock tactics to overwhelm any opposition and seize their prizes. Equipped with short range weapons, Trandoshan slavers use stealth to get as close as possible to their foes before launching a fierce assault of accelerated charged particles, blades, and electronets. While preferring stealth, these slavers are no cowards; they will fight tooth and claw to take and hold their targets. Since these slavers are armed to the teeth, they often find work between hunts as mercenaries and pirates in the Outer Rim.
Br 3, Ag 2, Int 2, Cun 2, WP 2, Pres 2
Soak 5, W. Threshold 8
Skills (group only): Coercion, Cool, Melee, Ranged (Heavy), Stealth.
Talents: None.
Abilities: None.
Equipment: Trandoshan ACP array shotgun (Ranged (Heavy); Damage 6; Critical 2; Range [Short]; Blast 5, Vicious 1) or Trandoshan ACP repeater gun (Ranged (Heavy); Damage 7; Critical 3; Range [Medium]; Auto-fire), two vibroblades (Melee; Damage 5; Critical 2; Range [Engaged]; Pierce 2, Vicious 2), electronet (Melee; Damage 6; Critical 6; Range [Engaged]; Ensnare 5; Knockdown, Limited Ammo 1, Stun Damage), padded armor (+2 soak), insulated gloves
Trandoshan Scavenger Droid [Minion]
Originally used for civilian applications such as search and rescue, these heavily modified drones have been refit for piracy. The ionization beam, originally used to disable malfunctioning electronics blocking rescue efforts, has been overcharged to disable shields and even cause damage to organic opponents. Their salvage drills have been upgraded with vibro components capable of savagely cutting through heavy infantry armor. With these upgrades, these so called “scav droids” serve as support to Trandoshan mercenaries in an anti-infantry role during boarding actions. The droids, equipped with repulsorlifts and stealth programming, are often dispatched ahead of the assault to disable ship defenses and terrorize the crew. When the boarding action begins in earnest the droids shift to direct support. Once a ship or structure is secured the droids turn their weapons to their original purpose and assist in salvaging any items of value.
Br 1, Ag 3, Int 2, Cun 3, WP 1, Pres 1
Soak 2, W. Threshold 5
Skills (group only): Coordination, Mechanics, Melee, Ranged (Light), Stealth.
Talents: Stalker 1 (add one Boost die per rank of Stalker to all Stealth and Coordination checks).
Abilities: Droid (does not need to breathe, eat, or drink and can survive in vacuum and underwater; immune to poisons and toxins), Hoverer (scav droids do not have to spend additional maneuvers when navigating difficult terrain), Suicide Attack (if an attack puts the scav droid at exactly its wound threshold may make an immediate suicide attack with the following profile: Ranged (Light); Damage 6; Critical 3; Range [Medium]; Blast 5. After resolving the suicide attack the scav droid is destroyed).
Equipment: Ionizing beam (Ranged (Light); Damage 8; Critical 3; Range [Medium]; Ion; Special Rules: deals half damage to biological targets, successful attacks disable personal shields), scavenger drill (Melee; Damage 4; Critical 2; Range [Engaged]; Pierce 5, Vicious 2; Special Rule: on successful hit the scavenger droid is attached to its target and will stay engaged even if the target moves, this condition ends if the droid is damaged)
Christopher Hunt
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